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Annual Address 2006 and 15 Year Report of GBBG |
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Annual Address 2006 and 15 Year Report of GBBG |
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GBBG - ANNUAL REPORT - 2006.
Another Successful Year
The year 2006 mirrored that of 2005 with regard to honey production, and many beekeepers seem to regard it as the best since 1989. Many of our members have had average yields of more than 100 lbs per hive. The flow from the hawthorn combined with that of the clover and blackberry to produce a really worthwhile crop. Let us hope that this trend will continue so as to give an incentive to more people to take up the craft of beekeeping. Many of us remember the bad years of the past and summers when it was difficult to keep the bees alive let alone produce a honey crop.
Breeding Apiary
Scarcely any losses were recorded in the Dun Aonghusa breeding apiary, which now has maximum stocking. The bee house was finally installed and contains six polystyrene double brood-chamber national hives, which were used this year as drone production colonies and queen cell raisers. This should prove a boon to us in future years. A good few hives were set aside for honey production so as to help defray expenses, and a total of 600 lbs of honey were produced for sale. About seventy queens were produced and distributed to members. About fifty more queens were inseminated by Redmond and distributed to selected members for subsequent progeny testing. Redmond supplied two queens from a new strain to help prevent inbreeding. We were hoping for the return of some unrelated queens from other members, but so far they have not arrived.
Group Activities
The attendance at the annual workday in the apiary bee garden was very disappointing, but all thanks to those who turned up and accomplished a tremendous amount of work on the day. The queen-rearing workshop was well attended and proved a great success, with many aspects of bee improvement being demonstrated. As well as the various aspects of queen rearing, the workshop included a demonstration on the Bailey frame change and the setting up of a scale hive. Our trip to Birr Castle and Gardens was very well attended also, with people travelling from as far away as Kerry, Cork and Down. It was a most interesting and enjoyable experience, and our thanks to Michael Maunsell for organising the event.
Visitors
After the unprecedented crowds that visited Dun Aonghusa as a result of Apimondia in 2005, this past year was relatively quite. There were the usual few visitors from America, and Australia, as well as the U.K. We did however have open days for two Irish BKAs, namely Gorey and Killorglin. Many thanks to Dennis and Redmond, who responded to my appeal for help with the demonstrations and catering.
Trips Abroad
A number of our members attended conferences overseas this year including the BBKA Spring Convention at Stoneleigh, the AGM of BIBBA, the Welsh BKA Convention in Builth Wells, the British National Honey Show and Lecture Convention in London, the BIBBA Convention at Bath and the SICAMM Conference in Versailles, France. Members gave presentations at most of these conventions, as well as learning a great deal from the high profile international lecturers who took part in these events. Many also attended the UBKA Convention at Greenmount College in Antrim, and as usual many of our members were involved in the running of the Gormanston Summer course, as well as taking part in the workshops and lecture programmes at all levels.
Success Stories
We must take this opportunity to once more congratulate all those members who were successful in the various examinations of FIBKA. We must also congratulate those members who won so many prizes at all the Irish Honey Shows, as well as the London Honey Show, where they were awarded a total of sixty-six prize cards.
Funding
This year, we received some very welcome funding to cover various items of equipment and defray some of our expenses. We are very grateful to the Department of Agriculture, which was mainly responsible for the granting of these funds under the Scheme for the Conservation of Genetic Resources in Food and Agriculture. As in the past, every cent has been put to good use and all monies received are well accounted for by Gay, our very diligent Treasurer.
The Four Seasons - Ceithre Ráithe na Bliana
Our quarterly newsletter continues to provide an excellent means of communication and dissemination of information among members of GBBG. Under the editorship of Claire Chavasse, it has seen six years of production. Many beekeepers, even outside of GBBG, have remarked on the excellent quality of its content and layout. This is largely due to the hard work of Claire and her ability to get members to write articles on their own knowledge and experience. Many thanks to everybody who has contributed to the many issues produced. Unfortunately, Claire has recently had to resign as Editor due to illness. Our most recent news is that she is responding very well to her current treatment, and on behalf of all our members I wish Claire a speedy return to her former good health, when she will be in a position to play her usual role in the many activities of GBBG. We are grateful to Eoghan Mac Giolla Coda, who has taken over the task of editing the newsletter. We wish him every success in this exacting and time-consuming work, and we hope that our members will continue to support their newsletter by sending him their contributions and reports on their own bee improvement activities.
Condolences
May we take the opportunity to sympathise with the members and friends who lost relatives during the year. These include the Power family of Carrick-on-Suir, the Lee family of Kildorrery, Bea Flavin-Dunphy of Mooncoin, Janet Hinchley, Angus Stokes of BIBBA, and Sister Catherine of Ardee, Co. Louth.
Thanks and Good Wishes
Sincere thanks to those members who helped in the administration of GBBG and who helped in any way to ensure the success of our group's work during the past year. A special thank you to our Secretary, Michael Maunsell; to our Treasurer, Gay Noonan; and to the Newsletter Editor, Claire Chavasse and latterly Eoghan Mac Giolla Coda. Thanks also to the members of the hardcore of workers who helped in so many ways and answered the call when needed including Redmond Williams, Dennis Ryan, Liam Rice, Pádraig Whelan, Jacob Kahn, Dave Cushman, Sally Percival-Maxwell, Des Williams, James Power, Joe Martin, Ruary Rudd, Philip McCabe, John Summerville, Ger Williams, Norman Walsh, Mervyn Eddie and Bea Flavin-Dunphy.
With very best wishes for the year 2007.
Micheál Mac Giolla Coda - Chairman.
GBBG - A Brief Review of the Past Fifteen Years - AGM 2006
Another Major Milestone Reached
For GBBG, the month of December 2006 has marked another milestone in its long-term programme of bee improvement. We can look back with pride on the progress we have made in the course of fifteen years of dedicated hard work in the conservation, study and improvement of our native strains of Dark European Honey Bee (Apis mellifera mellifera).
The First Meeting [Link]
On the December 30th 1991, the first meeting of the Galtee Bee Breeding Group was held at Glengarra Wood in the Galtee/Vee Valley, when just four local beekeepers came together to discuss the possibility of improving the bee strains of the locality. In order to facilitate the future work of the group, a set of rules and guidelines were drawn up. A work programme for the evaluation, recording, annual culling and selective breeding was also agreed upon.
Aims and Objects
The aims of the group were based on those already practiced by BIBBA and included the conservation, study, selection and improvement of the native strains of Dark European Honeybee in our own locality, which included the Galtee/Vee Valley and surrounding areas.
The BIBBA Connection
Prior to and around the time of the inaugural meeting, we got a great deal of help from the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders Association (BIBBA), including advice and encouragement, especially from Albert Knight, the then Secretary; Paul Arthur, the Group Secretary; and Adrian and Claire Waring, who visited our apiaries. For many years previously, BIBBA pioneered the conservation and improvement of the Native Dark Bees of these islands and had produced a great volume of literature by renowned authorities on the subject. From the very start, we decided that one of the rules for membership of our group would be that each member should affiliate annually to BIBBA, as well as to their local beekeeping Association.
THE FIRST FIVE YEARS
At the first meeting, we decided on an annual programme of work, as well as a five year plan for long-term development. This system has been practised to date and has served us well as a method of progressive bee improvement. Our first priority was to develop a system for evaluating and recording the behaviour characteristics of our bees. We also learned how to study their physical characteristics through the use of morphometry and held workshops to teach morphometry at various centres for adjacent beekeeping associations, as well as at the Band Room in Cahir. We established a semi-isolated mating apiary high on the slopes of the Galtee Mountains and developed the Dun Aonghusa system of progressively requeening the colonies within the Galtee/Vee Valley. This work was largely completed within that first five-year period.
The Young Scientists
Through the workshops, we developed a certain amount of expertise in morphometry. We helped a University student to carry out a project and encouraged second level students to undertake morphometry projects. We learned a great deal about the physical characteristics of the native bees and how to distinguish them from other races and hybrids. The culmination of our work came about when three young students from Portarlington were successful in winning the Aer Lingus Young Scientists Competition at the RDS in early 1996 for their morphometry project. In September 1996, they subsequently attained third place against very stiff opposition from students from various universities in the European Young Scientists Competition in Helsinki, Finland. It was a great privilege for the few members of GBBG who helped and encouraged these 14 & 15 year old students who put such tremendous effort and dedication into this project. They measured and recorded 730 samples of bees from all over Ireland (more than 20,000 bee wings). It was the first major survey of the bees of Ireland and it gave us a lot of insight into the status of the Dark Bee in many parts of this country.
BIBBA Conference
Another highlight of that first five-year period was the first Irish BIBBA Conference, which was held at Kildalton Agricultural College in South Kilkenny in September 1996. This was regarded as one of the most successful conferences ever held by BIBBA, and it concluded with a visit of about sixty delegates to the Galtee/Vee Valley, where they were pleasantly surprised at the progress that had been made in improving the local bees especially as regards docility.
THE SECOND FIVE-YEAR PERIOD
The success of the Young Scientists Exhibition, coupled with that of the BIBBA Conference at Kildalton and the ensuing publicity, led to an awakening of interest among Irish beekeepers in the work of the Galtee Group, and we had many enquiries about membership. It was decided to invite a select group of about forty progressive beekeepers to attend the 1996 AGM. Practically everybody present at that AGM joined the group, including most of the officers and executive members of FIBKA, as well as prominent members of BKAs in Munster and Leinster.
Expansion, Growth and Learning.
Thus began a period of progressive expansion and growth, including the education of our members through various means, such as the Cahir Study Group, attendance at the Advanced Beekeeping Course at the Central Science Laboratory and trips abroad to BIBBA and SICAMM Conferences. In addition, members participated at all levels in the Gormanston Summer Course, where we were given the opportunity to pass on our knowledge and experience to Irish beekeepers through lectures and practical workshops. We also hosted many beekeeping tours at our breeding apiary from other countries, as well as Irish BKAs.
Funding.
During the early years, we relied on our own resources to purchase some necessary equipment and sacrificed honey yields in order to raise some queens for our members free of charge. We were very fortunate in this later period to obtain funding under the Scheme for the Conservation of Genetic Resources in Food and Agriculture. As a result, we succeeded in establishing and equipping the Dun Aonghusa mating apiary on a firm footing with modern beehives for queen rearing and drone colonies, as well as sufficient Apidea mating hives to provide queens for our members at minimal cost. We were also able to purchase the essential equipment for instrumental insemination, which gave us a major boost with regard to selective breeding.
Newsletter and Website
This second five-year period culminated in two major developments that were to prove of great significance in the following years: The development of a website and the establishment of a quarterly newsletter entitled "The Four Season - Ceithre Ráithe na Bliana" have proved to be of major benefit to our group with the result that its work is known to most Irish beekeepers and internationally among beekeepers and bee breeders alike. Great credit is due to Claire Chavasse, who has been editor up to recently and ensured that the newsletter provided an important link between the group members. It is one of the four pillars on which the group is built. All those who contributed articles to the newsletter are to be complimented also, as without their ongoing support it would not be possible to carry on. The website, which was originally developed by Jacob Kahn, was subsequently developed further and continues to be maintained and updated on a regular basis by Dave Cushman, and it is something which they can both be proud of today.
THE THIRD FIVE-YEAR PERIOD
From 2002 to 2006, our membership continued to grow slowly. Even though some members lost interest after a time, they were replaced by younger, more enthusiastic members. We have about 70 members at present representing more than twenty BKAs, and these include four members in Northern Ireland, one in the Isle of Man and two in England. Not all members are as active as we would like, but many have contributed in one way or another to the ongoing success of GBBG. The major portion of the work of bee improvement is done by a small but dedicated hardcore group, which puts in long hours of hard work. We have developed a bee garden in our breeding apiary, and a number of members put in some work each spring in maintaining this. We have other activities where members attend, including workshops and practical demonstrations and a family day each year to partake in a garden walk, a woodland walk or a hedgerow walk. These latter events are very popular with spouses and children, as well as the members and friends, and usually end with an open-air picnic, when participants are afforded a chance to get better acquainted with each other.
Conferences
Some of our members travelled to Conferences of BIBBA in Sheffield, York, and Bath and also attended SICAMM Conferences in Sweden, Denmark and France. Our members also gave presentations at these Conferences on the work of GBBG.
Beard of Bees
One of the highlights of this period was the very successful Bee Beard attempt by Philip McCabe at Burncourt, when he was covered with more than 200,000 Dark Galtee Bees while wearing only briefs in his promotion of Apimondia 2005. This event attracted media attention from all over the world, and it proved to all and sundry that the reputation for ferocity that was attributed to the Dark Bee was misplaced. It showed that our native bees could be as docile as any other race, provided that they were selected accordingly.
Apimondia 2005
Many of our members were involved in the administration of the very successful Apimondia 2005 Conference held at the RDS at Ballsbridge. Many participated also as judges, stewards, giving workshops, and organising sessions of lectures and workshops etc. One of the highlights for GBBG was the Black Bee Session, when nine presentations were given by members of GBBG and BIBBA. Another major achievement was the winning of a silver medal by Dave Cushman for the GBBG website. One of the most striking events for GBBG was the visit of six coach loads of delegates from all over the world to our Dun Aonghusa breeding apiary at Glengarra Wood. Three coach loads came at one time, and three hives were opened in a simultaneous demonstration by members while nobody wore even a veil. Nobody got stung - another great test of the docility of our native Irish bees.
DNA and Electronic Morphometry Programmes
Although most of our members are practical beekeepers who possess a variety of skills, we are blessed in having a few scientists among our membership. The electronic system of wing measurement has been adopted by Dr. Jacob Kahn, and he continues to practice this more efficient method of morphometry, as well as training others in the procedures involved. Recently, he has been joined by Dr. Pádraig Whelan of UCC, who has plans for a variety of projects with university students in conjunction with GBBG. It was Jacob who organised the sending of fifty samples of bees from various parts of Ireland to the University of Copenhagen for DNA analysis. This provided us with very interesting information on the origin of Irish bee strains and confirmed beyond doubt that our own morphometry methods were a perfectly reliable means of investigating the physical characteristics of our native bees.
Longevity, Low Swarming and Productivity
In this most recent five-year period, we concentrated in selecting strains that had proved reluctant to swarm and whose queens possessed the characteristics of longevity that is often combined with perfect supersedure without attempting to swarm. These qualities generally lead to greater honey production and so are very important from an economic viewpoint. We will continue to select for these characteristics during the next five-year period, as well as researching our bees' ability to resist or tolerate the more serious diseases of bees, such as varroa and American foul brood.
THE NEXT FIVE-YEAR PERIOD - Planning for the Future
GBBG can well be proud of its achievements over the past fifteen years. However, there is no room for complacency, as there is still much work to be done. Now is the time to build on the foundation we have laid, and we must plan for the future. "To fail to plan is to plan to fail". At a meeting of our steering committee on 9/11/2006, we decided on a broad plan of campaign for the next five years. We need the help of each and every member in putting it into practice.
As heretofore we will continue to evaluate, select, and improve our bees as we have learned to do, concentrating on racial purity, docility, low swarming and freedom from disease. This has been achieved in the past through the constant assessment of our colonies and recording the results of each assessment. We would appeal to members to send in their colony appraisals at the end of each year, as this is one of the four pillars on which rest the future success of our bee improvement group.
Particular attention will be paid to assessing the important economic characteristics of longevity, supersedure and productivity.
We will learn to study our various bee strains for resistance to varroa and American foul brood. Efforts will be made to detect levels of grooming and hygienic behaviour that are reputed to bestow tolerance to these diseases.
We will undertake a morphometry survey of the whole country in order to ascertain the current status of the purity of our existing Irish strains of the Dark European Honeybee (Apis mellifera mellifera).
We will co-operate with other bodies engaged in this work, e.g. BIBBA, FIBKA, Department of Agriculture, Teagasc, UCC, etc.
We would ask all members of GBBG to help put this programme into practice. We need the help of each and every member. It is time to put those shoulders to the wheel. If this can happen, then we are guaranteed success in our bee improvement endeavours and can look to a brighter future for our native bees and Irish beekeeping.
Micheál Mac Giolla Coda - Chairman.
Originated... 22 January 2007, Revised... 09 January 2008,
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